Got only two pictures of this yellow dragonfly, and while taking the second picture it flew off, so it's just a blur.
But like the cat, it came back![1] And I switched to taking a video, and then clipped some pictures out of it (thanks @jjb777 for the idea!).
I'll actually present the pictures out-of-order since the close-ups from the video are stunning! I'll also post the video, further below, and will describe some techniques I used both while filming and while editing.
The first several are from the video, starting from the end, when I was closest:
The next one is from the beginning of the video; I started filming and then walked towards it, in case it flew away:
The next two are the first two pictures I took, not from the video:
And here's the full video, up at YouTube:
Focus
I was filming on my phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5. Most of the time, in the video, the dragonfly is blurry, as it's auto-focusing on the leaves behind it. So I tapped on the image of the dragonfly, and each time I did that it'd focus on it. This was not particularly easy to do, as I had to step through tall grasses and some brush to get close enough (even with the 4x zoom), but after a few tries I learned how to do it with one hand.
If you know of a better technique with this phone (or any Android, probably), like Ross Perot in the 1992 debates, I'm all ears! :)
Single-step in VLC
After walking back into the house, plugging my phone into the laptop, and copying the images and video, I then needed to find good shots from the video. I loaded it into VLC Player (an open-source video player), and then looked up the hotkeys for single-step. There's only one: "e" to go forward one frame. Really?
I searched, and found an old article asking for a "one frame back" feature, but it is fairly difficult to do, and have it work for all codecs and formats. That's okay, I don't really need to go back one frame; I can step forward, and if I go too far, just click back on the timeline a second or so, and then single-step slowly to find the image I want to capture.
Image Capture: Shift+S
Then, hold down the Shift key and hit "S" to take a snapshot. Note that if you don't hold down Shift, the lowercase "s" means "stop" and it exits the video! Seems a poor pairing...
On Windows, VLC puts the images in %USERPROFILE%\Pictures (e.g., C:\Users\username\Pictures), and names them like "vlcsnap-2017-08-04-12h21m53s903.png" (the first image, above).
I have a "Steemit" folder in my Documents folder, under which I create a folder for each post (this one was "New dragonflies" as I had remembered seeing two, this one and a black one, but I guess I didn't get any pictures of the black one). So I moved the snapshots into that folder, and then dragged-and-dropped them into here.
Bi-directional Links
One final step I will take after posting this to Steemit, is to copy the resulting URL, and paste it back into the YouTube description -- so, if anyone finds my video on YouTube, they'll have a link back to this descriptive text, and perhaps will sign up as a new user! :)
Enjoy!
[1] -- "The Cat Came Back" song is infectious! :)
Amazing detail on the dragonfly! Love these shots baby. The video is crazy!!!
WoW @libertyteeth what a nice little creature you capture it looks so cute and beautiful.
And friendly! It didn't have to come back. :)
hahaha very funnuy game specially when he cut the string and bloon fly...and all photos are fantastic and bee look very beutifull very good capture by u sir
Thanks! That cat video shocked me -- because I had a dream as a child in which I died twice, and there are some very similar elements to the video! So I must have seen it prior to the dream, perhaps on Sesame Street or something? I think I'll do a post on it.
nice...
I voted in your post hope I can do the same to my =)
https://steemit.com/health/@kingoflek/recieta-para-um-shake-contra-constipacao-caseira
thank you.
It's amazing too see a dragon fly so close and it's super clear too see its features your an amazing photographer
Thanks!
its beautifull in all photos its all photos are best time taking u and also i enjoy the video of cat game @libertyteety
Powerful insect in my country we call it "kill horse"
Neat! What country is that? @adnanrabbani said in his country they're "helicopters", on this post: https://steemit.com/photography/@libertyteeth/bright-red-dragonfly-in-the-garden-this-morning
Really cool to learn how different cultures name things, it gives insight into them.
Nice one. Congrats on your adventure. The pics and videos are good to me. @libertyteeth
Wow. Congratulation. Thats really nice pics. Im glad it worked with the camera trick. Waiting for more ;-)
And they just appear in your garden? Nice.
J
I know, right? I got up yesterday morning a little grumbly because the concussions don't generally let me sleep well (the weighted blanket is helping a great deal, I made a post about it), and walked out to water the garden.
Two opportunities presented themselves to me, to make posts about! This one about the yellow dragonfly, and the seed through the leaf. I think that's really neat. And last night while watering, I noticed a cluster of 14 grape tomatoes and took pictures and a video, which I'll post later.
Then today, a different tomato plant looks sick, so I took some pictures to ask if anyone knows what's wrong.
I currently have five posts planned! This is starting to become time-consuming... :)
Good. Tomorrow we'll drive to my parents house. There's a little pond where occasionally some dragon flies appear. I'll try to catch a pic when i see one. Wish me luck ;-)
J
Awesome, good luck! Comment to me if you make a post, if you would, just to make sure I see it? Thanks!
Actually the weather was too bad. No sun over here. They didnt show up. J
Ah well. Next time! :)
Good Shots :)
Thanks!
Have you ever seen a black one?? It came to me some years ago. I was totally stunned! So beautiful!
I wish I would have a sharp and nice photo like you have. Made it with a lousy mobile cam :-D
I really like that shot! Each time I see it (several times today, because I answer each reply in chronological order, rather than processing all replies on one post -- you can only reply every 20 seconds, so it helps to have a few seconds for switching tabs in between), I at first think you're holding up a top hat! Formed by the wings and the doorframe behind it. :)
Beautiful dragonfly! The tail looks slightly blue -- is that just reflection from outdoors? Thanks for sharing!
Spectacular dragonfly! This is wonderful!
thank you so much for shaing
what is your camera?
Thanks! This is nothing special, a Samsung Galaxy S5. I think it's three years old and I've dropped it enough (sometimes forcefully when it won't answer a call! :) ) that I'm surprised it's still working. You're welcome!
Certainly the Samsung S5 camera has an extraordinary resolution, but I believe that the person who takes the picture adds its touch and makes the picture much more original
Thanks! My sister studied photography; I'm just a hack. :) But I've hacked many things in my life so far, so, why not a camera? :)
I think you will make a very good photographer, just let you go and take some very nice photos